RodentPro- Zoonotic disease warning

Originally Posted by reticguy76

You know how many people went to jail 30 years ago for "beyond a reasonable" doubt then were later released and found innocent because of 100% dna over the last 10 years or a little more ?? Right there, is why I demand 100% or as close to, as determined by my thoughts and gut, when accusations and some "proof" is brought forth

Ryan, no one is stopping you from having your own opinion. Mine differs. I respect that you say what you feel, please do the same for me. There are times when I definitely get the feeling that people want to put the hush on, and I'm getting that feeling loud and clear.

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Just thought you should know rp ships the Monday after you order. So ordering last week and receiving your rodents tomorrow ( Wednesday) is normal.

Cool, thanks, Guess I'll take that part out then...I guess Im just a little pissed off.

Reticguy, I don't have a problem with you wanting proof. I have none but whT I have said. Also, I fully understand that with large colonies here is always annincreased risk of disease. My outage is that rp did not give menthe opportunity to make the proper decisions for my facility- which might be different choices than what you as a private individual would make. My issue is with them withholding the information from their customers. That is why it is a bad guy thread.

I respect everybodys opinions and views on these threads. I was simply stating more in depth of why my opinion is what it is, based on your beyond a reasonable doubt scenario.

Beyond a reasonable doubt just doesnt cut it for me these days in most situations such as this one.

I respect you very much Lucille and you make your thoughts and opinions, well presented all the time I read your posts

Kristen, fair statement. May I ask what you would have wanted them to say to you, exactly ??

Well I'm not surprised rodent pro has problems I dont like any of there stuff and will not feed it anymore I have 8 ball pythons who all picked up some bacterial infection took them to the vet got a culture blood work and it was a pseudomona type that is not natural fauna and with what it was ( cant remember medical name) my vet was surprised the rest of my animals weren't sick well it turns out the only animals that were sick we're the ones feeding on rodent pro small rats I know after freezing thawing and all that bacteria shouldn't survive but oh we'll havent had a problem since so I'm gonna point the finger

I would have liked to have been told something like this:
we regret to have to tell you that this virus was found in some of our animals. We do/ do not think (whichever was true) that you received these animals as part of your order. Here is information about this disease- then a link to the CDC site, etc.- a note about pregnant women/ immunosupressed people. If we did get those rodents in may, I could have decided to cull then. Now I don't know if what I've been breeding here- a substantial increase due to rp stopping their shipments of live- has been exposed. I have some responsibility to our employees- I was uninformed and their actions make us look bad to our employees. I haveone who may need to be tested for exposure. I do not enjoy giving him stress- he is a great guy who is incredibly patient feeding baby snakes. If I had all the info at least I could have made decisions. I do not appreciate that they were made for me.

Originally Posted by reticguy76

Kristen, fair statement. May I ask what you would have wanted them to say to you, exactly ??

I think she has made that very clear in her early posts.

Brad, according to the article.

"[out of 52 workers] 13 of the facility’s employees were positive for LCM, nine reported that there were ill and six sought medical care."

One could take this to mean 17% of those exposed at the facility were infected. I don't think that is something that anyone needs to take lightly. Having had a child with a severely compromised immune system due to chemotherapy, I find it unconscionable that Rodent Pro would not proactively let their customer's know.

While one cannot fault them for having the outbreak, they have opened themselves up to a massive lawsuit by failing to warn their client base of health risks.

Originally Posted by bwaffa

I'm sure the OP is trying to do his due diligence as a good citizen (it sounds like he's got reasonable beef with RodentPro too), but I think the "outbreak" announcement is premature. LCMV is very common in rodent populations, and seroprevalence studies have demonstrated low levels of exposure in human populations as well in cohorts of people who never even showed symptoms. That RodentPro and every other mouse breeder in the country has seen LCMV come through their facilities - and that many of us are regularly exposed - should not be surprising at all. A symptomatic case in humans WOULD be very unusual and is probably the only reason the CDC was investigating (an investigation of this nature would be very standard protocol). I would be reluctant to get too excited about this pending a more official announcement. Especially since it only gives the media more senseless anti-herpetoculture fodder.

Brad


Bradley J. Waffa, MSPH
DVM Candidate
Merial, Ltd. Student Representative
NAVC OnCampus Representative
NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine
Raleigh, NC 27606

Originally Posted by jumpsnake

I would have liked to have been told something like this:
we regret to have to tell you that this virus was found in some of our animals. We do/ do not think (whichever was true) that you received these animals as part of your order. Here is information about this disease- then a link to the CDC site, etc.- a note about pregnant women/ immunosupressed people. If we did get those rodents in may, I could have decided to cull then. Now I don't know if what I've been breeding here- a substantial increase due to rp stopping their shipments of live- has been exposed. I have some responsibility to our employees- I was uninformed and their actions make us look bad to our employees. I haveone who may need to be tested for exposure. I do not enjoy giving him stress- he is a great guy who is incredibly patient feeding baby snakes. If I had all the info at least I could have made decisions. I do not appreciate that they were made for me.

I believe that is reasonable, especially as there are more people involved at you facility than most hobbyists.

I regularly order from RP, would I have like to have had a heads up? Yes. I am not going to freak out just yet though. I will reserve my right to freak out later.

If this affects reptiles, I will have issues.

I will be on the look out for a different supplier, in case I decide not to order from RP again.